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Balancing Schoolwork and Dreaming

How to Keep Your Kids Inspired all School Year Long

From brand-new notebooks to freshly sharpened pencils and the excited hum of school-yard playgrounds, there’s lots to like about the start of a new school year! But that’s not to say it comes without challenges. Balancing your schedule with your kids’ now hectic agendas isn’t easy, and we’re all guilty of falling into the school, dinner, homework, sleep, repeat cycle. But even though education is an important building block for any child’s dream, it’s important to strike a balance.

Keep learning fun. For kids, sitting in a classroom all day, five days a week can be draining. And coming home to worksheets and practice quizzes isn’t always the most effective way to help them retain knowledge. So, when it’s possible, try to give them the opportunity to learn in a more exciting way. Go on walks and talk about the different plants and wildlife, plan a weekend trip to the closest children’s museum, conduct your very own science experiment or art project — any kind of education that’s hands-on and fun will help keep them excited to learn!

Schedule time together. Having dinner together as a family or even taking 30 minutes a day to play a card game and chat about things non-school related is a great idea. Kids crave this kind of interaction and it’s the perfect way to foster close family relationships that you can build off of as they grow older.

Allow down-time. It shouldn’t be go, go, go all the time. Kids need breaks too! Give them some time each night to sit down and watch some TV, play a game or just enjoy some peace and quiet. It’ll help them recharge and approach the next day refreshed and ready to learn.

Foster their interests. Does your kid love to dance, draw, build things, make music, play basketball? Whatever it is they like to fill their spare time with, let them! Research shows that many of the interests we have as children blossom into long-term dreams we can pursue as adults. So give your children the chance to experiment and allow them to join different clubs and extracurriculars. You never know what may come from these outside passions.

Get away. School attendance is important, but so is time away. Don’t be afraid to take your kids on family vacations — whether it’s a week at Disney World or a long weekend staycation. Teaching your kids to take a break from time-to-time and enjoy a change of scenery is important, and it’ll help them build out their life balancing skills and teach them how to prioritize in the future. And the memories you make along the way are a plus!

Set an example. It’s no secret, kids learn their behaviors from their parents. If you make it a point to set aside time for your dreams, despite your busy schedule, they’ll discover that it’s important to do the same. So take at least 15 minutes each day to pursue a dream and watch them follow suit.

Whatever you do to keep your children going during the school year, remember this: Kids will be kids. Allow a bit of leniency and make sure they feel supported and cheered on and the rest will fall into place. Here’s to another year of learning — with just a dash of dreaming!

Want more tips and motivation? Join the dream movement today — we’ve got just the resources to help support and guide you and your family along any dream pursuit.